Wakefield Summary | CaseChat AU

[2025] FWC 2173

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.789FC - Application for an order to stop bullying

Wakefield

(AB2025/559)

COMMISSIONER MCKINNON

SYDNEY, 25 JULY 2025

Application for an FWC order to stop bullying – applicant not a “worker” at the time of application

On 9 July 2025, Mr Guy Wakefield applied for an order to stop bullying at work under s.789FC of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The application was made in relation to the Trustee for Sartor Family Trust t/as Sartor Brisbane Concrete Services (Sartor) and persons with whom Mr Wakefield interacted while at work in the business of Sartor.

Under s,789FC, a worker who reasonably believes that they have been bullied at work may apply to the Commission for an order to stop bullying at work. At the time of the application, Mr Wakefield was not a worker in relation to the application. He had ceased employment with Sartor approximately one month earlier. To the extent that Mr Wakefield has had further interactions with those connected to his former employment, these did not occur while he was at work in the business of Sartor.

It follows that Mr Wakefield was not entitled to apply to the Commission under s.789FC in relation to his former employment with Sartor at the time the application was made. The application is incompetent and will be dismissed.

Order

The application (AB2025/559) is dismissed under section 587(1)(c) of the Act.

COMMISSIONER

Determined on the papers.

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In Wakefield, the Fair Work Commission was asked to make an order under section 474 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) to stop bullying. The applicant, Mr Wakefield, alleged he had been bullied by his former employer, the respondent. The application was made after Mr Wakefield had left his employment. The Commission was required to decide whether Mr Wakefield was a "worker" at the time of the application, and therefore eligible to seek the order.

The legal issue before the Commission was whether Mr Wakefield was a worker for the purposes of section 474 of the Fair Work Act. The definition of "worker" in section 17 of the Act includes a person who works for another person under a contract of employment. The Commission considered whether Mr Wakefield had been a worker at the time of the application, given he had left his employment before the application was made. The Commission concluded that Mr Wakefield was no longer a worker because he had ceased to be employed by the respondent. The Commission found that the applicant was not a worker at the time of the application, and therefore not eligible to make an application under section 474 of the Act.

The application was dismissed. The Commission found that the applicant had not been a worker at the time of the application. The Commission also found that the applicant had not demonstrated that the application was in the public interest or that there were any exceptional circumstances which warranted the making of an order.

Wakefield

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